Cotton picker



Patented May 27, 1924.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFF-ICE.

LOUIS CARROLL STUKENBORG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A SSIGNOR, BY MES NE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO STUKENBO'RG CORPORATION, OF WILMINGTON,

POR-ATION or DELAWARE.

DELAWARE, A con- COTTON IPICKER.

Application filed October 27, 1920.

T 0 all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, Lou s CARROLL STU- KENBORG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Pickers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cotton harvesting machines, and refers more particularly to novel picker mechanism for removing the cotton directly from the boll, or alternately removing cotton from any mass and discharging it by vacuum or otherwise to a place of disposal.

Among the objects of the invention is to simplify the picker mechanism of a cotton picking machine, reduce the cost of its construction, reduce the weight of the picker mechanism, reduce the power to drive the mechanism, and to otherwise improve picker mechanisms,

A cotton picker mechanism embodying my invention embraces interacting brush means which may, and as herein shown, have the form of rotary brushes that rotate on axesparallel to each other and are adapted for direct contact with the cotton which is being picked or handled to draw it into a frame or head which surrounds the picker mechanism in a manner to furnish a conduit for the passage of the cotton rearwardly between and away from the brush means and to enclose said mechanism and support suitable bearin'gs for the movable parts thereof, together with means co-operat-ing with the brush means for clearing the brush means of the cotton and for depositing the cotton cleared from the brush means to means for carrying the eotton'rearwardly to the place where it is deposited, as, for instance, depositing it into a movable column of air which is maintained by connection of the head with a suction device ton fiber from the brush Serial in)". 4.199%;

i The presentinventionrelates more par:. ticularly H to the means for clearing the cotand to the combination of saidclearing means vand guards with the brushmeans and with other elements which oto make up a complete picker mechanism. ,7 c The invention consists inthecombination and arrangement of th parts shown in the in the specification,

drawing and described and is pointed out in' the appended claims.

In the drawing;

sive, 10, 10 designate as a whole the brush meanswh-ich have the form of rotating cores 11, 11 that which extend transversely of the head, or casing, designated as a, whole by 13, and more specifically hereinafter described. The said brush means embraces also, as shown in the last mentioned figures, bristle tufts 14 that are fixed to and extend radially from'the ,cores and are adapted to interact in such a way that when in contact with the cotton androtated in the direction indicated'by the arrows in Figure 1, draw the cotton rearwardly between the brushes into the casing or head. V

The said casing or head, as shown. is made of two generally similar hollow parts 16, 17 that may be made of cast metalor sheet metal suitably formed.- Saidcasing parts are. generally symmetrical with respectto-eaeh other e xcept for an extension 18 at one s e of the-head to eceivethe means to guards are fixed on shafts 12, 12-

, I Figure 1 is anaxial section of a picker taken at "right angles View of the casing or p driving gears for the brush means hereinafter described. Said gearing extension or housing is closed by a cover plate 19. The two parts of the head casing may be joined in any suitable manner as by means of overlapping lugs which are pierced for the passage of screws or bolts 21. The formation of the two parts of the casing members is such that, when assembled there is produced at the front part a mouth portion 22 in which the brushes 10 are rotatively mounted, and a neck portion 23 which is adapted for connection with a conveyor tube 24., which itself is adapted for connection to a suction fan, or other means for inducing a rearwardly flowing current of air through the head and conveyor tube .In the present instance a portion of the induced air enters the casing or head through the mouth 22,-but the major portion of the air enters the head through openings 25 that ar'efformed' in the head. There may be one or more of such-openings and the area of the single or multiple openings will depend upon conditions of work such, for instance, as the staple of the cotton, the volume of he cotton passing through the head in a given time, the air current inducing power, etc.

The shafts 12 on which the brush cores are directly mounted are herein shown as of square cross sections to enter corresponding openings in the cores. The ends of the shafts are turned to form cylindric bearing portions 27 which are supported on opposing side walls 28 of the head through the medium of suitable roller bearings designated as a whole by 29 that are themselves supported in inwardly extending socketed members 30 which may be made integral with or attached in any suitable manner to the easing walls. The brush cores are'provided with endwise extended enlargements or shells 31, which, when the cores aremade of wood, are fitted over the ends of the cores, and, when made of metal, can be integral extensions of the metal cores. These shells overlap the socketed members 30in the manner best shown in Figure 2 almost to the adjacent sidewalls of the head, and are made internally larger than the external diameter of the soclceted members, so as to prevent winding of the cotton about the bearings.

Thebrush cores extend'beyond one of the side walls 28 of the casing, at the mouth thereof, and inter-meshing gears 32, 32 are fixed to those corresponding ends' of the shaft that so project exteriorly from the easing. To one of the shafts, or, it may be to one of the gears, is fixed a worm gear 33 that meshes with a wormfi l which is fixed to a shaft 35,- that is mounted in suitable'bearings 36 carried by the casing. The said shaft extends rearwardly for connection to suitable driving power, as, for-instance, an electric or other motor, supported on the posite wall,

head, or a motor supported rearwardly of the head by suitable driving connections.

38, 38 designate guards which are attached to opposite walls 39 of the casing head adjacent the walls 30. Said guards extend inwardly toward each other across the front faces of the brushes. They thus extend transversely with respect to the axes of the brush cores and are, preferably, so located that the active members or bristles ll of the brushes extend forwardly beyond and between them in'the manner indicated in Figure 1. The number of such guards will depend upon the number of the active brush elements em} loyed. In the arrangement shown there are four guards extending across each brush, and with this arrangement two adjacent guards can readily, be

made of a single liall plli shaped piece of wire attached at ts closed portion to the casing wall 39 by means of a bolt 41..

I gle piece of wire will be hereinafter referred to in the singular.

The guards curved inwardly at a5 and are thence directed rearwardly constitute clearer and guide extensions between the brushes to The, foregoing constitutes a convenient means of attachment of the guards to the shown inFigures 1 and 2 are T he terminals of said extensions are orefof such length as to extend reason ably beyond the circumferential lines defining the peripheries of the active? brush elements,

In the construction shown in Figure 1, a g

set of guards that spring from one extend at their curved portions 45 beyond and across the corresponding curved portions of the guards that spring from the opso that thereby the guide and I clearer terminals of the guards lie one across the other, with the clearer extensions as forming integral parts the guards 38 that spring from one wall 39 located closer to the core of the brush other wall 89 than to the brush that lies close to the wall 39 from which the guards spring. 7 1 v In the construction shown in Figure l, the guards thereon, designated by 47 can be attached to the head or casing walls 39 in the same manner as before described, and are turned inwardly at 48 beyond the peripheries of the brush cores much in the same manner as in the construction shown in Figures l and 2. However, the said guards from one wall of the casing or head do not extend beyond and across those which spring from the other wall 39 ofwthe head. Said wall 39,

10 adjacent to the uards have clearer extensions 50 which are 7 I thereto, this 'in addition to the Vibratory acelements. In. both; the constructions the combined guards and clearer'means are flexible so as to permit them to move toward and .from each other and .thereby continuously move in the, brush means in a manner to set up vibration to prevent the cotton fibre from clinging to the brush means. I

The combined guards and clearer extensions perform two functions, and so far as the specific structure is concerned, they may or may not be severally made of the same piece of wire or other *material. It is convenient, however, to so form them and thi construction is recommended. a

The function of the rearwardly turned clearer extensions is to removeor comb the cotton fiber from the active elements. of; the brush, and this function is efi'ected-byfreason of the factthat the bunches of cotton fiber picked from the cotton plant or from a mass -of cotton, and drawn .rearwardly between the active elements-of the *brush', spread the terminals of the clearer-extensions. When the bunches of cottonfiber are released from the clearerextensions, said extensions resume their normal positions, and this repeated spreading and restoring movement of the clearer extensions has the effect of vibrating said extensions so that said extensions serve, not only to removethje cotton from the active brush elements, but also by reason of their vibration to free the cotton fr'o'msaid extensions so that it will be passed or deposited inthe current'of air induced rearwardly through the casing. The incoming bolls orbunches ofcotton drawn rearwardly between the brushes and between the clearer extensions will have the effect to push a boll or bunch of cotton, ahead of it, in the event the'latter should tend to cling tion of the clearer extensions.

,The vibrational activityof the crossed extensions shown in Figure 1 will be greater than that of the parallel clearer extensions shown in Figure 4. For this reason, the

construction shown in said Figure 1 is thought tobe more efficient, but it has been demonstrated that the construction shown in Figure 4 is fully efficient to effect the functions described. It will also be ob served that the cotton passing betweenthe brushes is in most part between-the clearer extensions and that while the ends: of the tufts exert good traction pull on the cotton;

the clearer extensiofisa-void as deep penetration" of the brushes in :the cat-tun as'--:wo uld otherwise occur.

An advantage of mal ring theaclarer xex-p tensions (46, continuous with unintegml parts .o'fithe guards?'(-38; Z47) is' found inlthe simplicity of the" .constructioniand thecm'air ner iof'attachingxthe dual function? devices to the casing. FurtherIfiDr ,"-an* advantag d extending the guards v inwardly between the brushes I is ,to, avoid the entanglement .of

guard ends, 7 stop ,at J the front of the brush means, with .the l1ulls of the cotton,

when picking from the plant, which may 00- it 70 cu jif the guards terminate short. of each other such distance thata hull or pod may enter between them. Is the latter instance,

the act of removing the hull ,or pod may tend to deform the. guard. a In theconstructien ewn,

however, this contingency does kp our. r

.lllhe construction shown in Figurei5 is all,.essential respects the same as that shown n Figures and 2, with the exception that r the brushmeans comprise, in addition tothe ner. For instance, said extensions may be -.made of rubber, orotherrelatively resilient %composition, and integral with sleeves .53 ,whiclrsurround andfit closely onthe cores.

Saidsleves may possess suflicient resiliency to-holdthemselves "on the cores, or. it may be "desirable :to provide them with inwardly extension lugs that engage suitably. spaced recessesthe periphery of the core.- r I claim as my invention g 1' e I 1. Cotton picker mechanism embracing coaCti-ngrotativebrush means, a casing en- ;cl0si ng,said.brush meansand formed at one end with a mouthto receive thebrushmeans and ;'adapted for connection with isuction means; -;and flexible vibratory guard and brush combing, members extending, between said thrush means and terminating free ended rearwardly beyondthe plane of the axes of rotation-of the brushmeans.

Cotton picker mechanism embracing .coacting brush means, a casingenclosing s a ide-brush means and formed at one end with a mouth-to receive thebrush means and adapted for connection with suction means, and -v1bratory guide and brush combing members extending. between said brush a means and terminating rearwardly therebeyond-,-said members being crossed adjacent the front-of the brush means.

3,,A-cotton picker comprising a casing having atone end a mouth formation and adapted-for connection in rear thereof to suction means; coacting brush means mount 3 ed in the casing at said mouth formation and combined guards and brush combing means, the guards-extending across the front of thebrushes and the combing means being t xi-1211cia dexte ing ea -l a y' -.-be ee and {terminating free ended and vibrating in rear o f the-brushmeans,

-54. A.-"6otto'n piekemcomprisin-g a casing having at one sendamouth forma ion and &

ed in the casingat said mouth, and com bined guards and vibrating brush clearer and guiding means extendinginpart across the front of the brush means and in part rearwardly between the brush means and free at their terminals in rear of the brush means, the clearer and guiding means being crossed adjacent the front of said brush means. g

6. A cotton pickercomprising a casing having at one'end a mouth formation and adapted for connection in rear thereof to suction means, coacting brush means mounted in: the casing at said'mouth, and combined guards and brush combing and guiding means, the guards extending across the front of the brush means, and the combing and guiding means extending between the brush means and being vibratory and terminating in rear thereof, said casing being provided in rear of the brush means with an air inlet opening.

7. Cotton picker mechanism embracing coacting, rotative brush means, a casing enclosing and supporting them and having at one endra mouth formation and adaptedfor connection to suction means, and guards attached to opposing casing walls and extending across the brush means and turned rearwardly at their proximate ends to form flexible vibratory combing and guidingterminals which extend between the brush means and terminate freely in rear thereof.

8. Cotton picker mechanism embracing brush means, a casing enclosing and supporting them and having at one end a mouth formation and adapted for connec tion to suction means, and guards attached to the casing wall and extending across the brush means and turned rearwardly at their proximate ends to form resilient combing and guiding means that terminate in rear of the brush means.

9.-Cotton picker mechanism embracing coacting, rotative brush means, a casing en closing and supporting said brush means and having at one end a mouth formation to receive said brush'means and adapted for connection in rear of said brush means to suction means, and flexible, vibratory cotton clearer wires extending between the brushes and free at their rear ends rearwardly beyond the axes of rotation of said brushes.

10. In combination with rotative, coacting brush means and the enclosing and supporting casing thereof, of flexible resilient strand-like clearer and guide members extending between the brush means and terminating free ended in rear of the brush means.

11. In combination with rotative, coaoting brush means and the enclosing and supporting casing thereof, of resilient strandlike clearer and guide members extending between the brush means and terminating free ended in rear of the brush means, said members being crossed upon each other adjacent to the front of the brush means.

12. In combination with rotative, coacting brush means and the enclosing and supporting casing thereof, of flexible resilient strand like clearer and guide members extending between the brush means and terminating free ended in rear of the brush means, and guard members integral with the clearer and guide members and curved outwardly away from the meeting plane of the brush means, across said brush means, and fastened to opposing walls of the casing.

13. In combination with the rotative, coacting brushes of a cotton picker mechanism, of flexible resilient, strand-like clearer and guide members extending between the brushes and having free ended terminals that extend rearwardly beyond the axes of rotation of the brushes.

' 14. In combination with the rotative, co-

actingbrushes of a cotton picker mechanism, of resilient strand-like clearer and guide members extending between the brushes and having free ended terminals that extend inwardly beyond the brushes, said clearer and guide members being crossed upon each other at the front of the brushes.

r 15 A cotton picker comprising a casing having at one end a mouth formation and adapted for connection in rear thereof to suction means, coa-cting brush means within said mouth formation, and resilient strand-like cotton guiding and clearer members' between the brushes and terminating free ended in rear of the brushes, said brushes having driving shaftsywith intermeshing driving gears fixed on corresponding ends of said shafts,-a Worm 'gear fixed on one of said shafts, and'a power shaft provided with a worm meshing with said worm gear.

'16. In combination with the rotative, coacting brushes of a cotton picker mechanism, of strand-like, resilient guide means extending bet e n he brushes and free ended rearwardly beyond the plane of the centers of the brushes and yieldable toward and from the brushes.

17. In combination with the rotative, c0- acting brushes of a cotton picker mechanism, of flexible resilient guide means extending between the brushes and rearwardly free ended, said guide means limiting penetration of the brushes in the cotton while permitting pulling engagement of the cot- 10 ton with the brushes.

In witness whereof I claim the foregoing as my invention, I hereunto append my signature this twelfth day of October, 1920.

LOUIS CARROLL STUKENBORG. 

